Software specialist snapped up for £3m
A THRIVING young software company launched in Runcorn just a few years ago has been snapped up for £3m by another company.
Since being launched in 2011, d3t has made waves in the video game industry as a contract trouble shooter having worked on top titles such as The Witcher 3, regarded by many gamers as the best role playing game ever, as well as stepping in to provide the programming for interactive displays at UK heritage sites.
International technical services provider for the games industry Keywords Studios has now bought the firm for £3m from d3t founders Jamie Campbell and Stephen Powell.
Now based in Manor Park, d3t provides premium outsourced software development.
A Keyword Studios spokeswoman said the acquisition is in line with the firm’s growth strategy of aiming to consolidate the ‘highly fragmented market’ for video game services.
She said d3t brings extra skills, client relationships and geographic reach. Founded in 2011 and now employing 44 staff, award-winning d3t specialise in HD re-mastering, porting, optimisation, rendering and game systems development. ● ●
The Keyword Studios spokeswoman said d3t had delivered consistent high quality across dozens of projects for clients such as SEGA, Codemasters, Sony XDev and the BBC.
Jamie Campbell, Stephen Powell and the rest of d3t team will remain with the business.
In the year ending July 31, 2017, d3t earned revenues of £2.8m and an underlying adjusted pre-tax profit of £0.4m.
Under the terms of the acquisition Keywords is paying a consideration comprised of £2.4m in cash and the issue of 42,368 new ordinary shares in Keywords.
Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of 42,368 new ordinary shares to trading on AIM.
Jamie Campbell said: “We are delighted to be joining the Keywords Group, d3t was founded with the sole aim of being an invaluable external development partner to the games industry and other interactive sectors.
“Over the course of six years we have become leaders in the field of high-value engineering offering a professional, wide ranging service.
“We feel there is a great deal of synergy with Keywords’ strategy to be the very best technical service provider to the video games industry, and we look forward to our continued expansion as part of the group.”
Giacomo Duranti, Keyword chief operating officer, said: “The acquisition of d3t complements our recent acquisition GameSim’s capabilities to extend the services, scale and geographical presence of our engineering offering.
“With increasing demand in the video games industry for reliable, high-quality outsourced software engineering services, we are building a strong offering to support our clients globally.
“We are delighted to welcome the highly talented and experienced team at d3t to the Keywords family and we look forward to working closely together to build upon the company’s excellent reputation, track record and client relationships.”